The World You Love
by KittyLawnmower
Summary: GaaHina. Will body spray spell the end of Gaara? How will he survive without Cindy the Stick? What is this thing you call a 'sock? .. THERE IS FLUFF IN HERE, no matter how it may seem, and probably some minor lime. R&R.
1. Zomg! POCKY! and The body spray of d0om!

**The World You Love **

_GaaraxHinata. Gonna flame about it? Don't read. It's simple._

_I haven't quite figured out the entire plot for this story, but I know how it's going to be written out. The idea popped into my head whilst listening to Jimmy Eat World. I luff that band. Thanks to them, you shall now get this piece of crap that might actually be worth your time. :D Yey.  
_

**Warnings/ **Randomness, OOCness, who knows (the scariest of all. Seriously.), stuff that really doesn't make sense and is never explained (Gaara/Temari/Kankouro randomly living in Konoha), AU ish high school, three-headed ducks, pocky, dinosaurs, mature language, perverts, cherry lip gloss, TAG body spray, it will most likely suck, and there will probably be fluff. Lots.  
There is no Shukaku. I know, I know… go ahead. Cry. :( He doesn't fit in, is the only problem. Otherwise he would SO be here. I heart him.

You have been warned.

_  
_**Disclaimer/ **Naruto does not belong to me… and be very thankful. All lyrics (and the title; 'tis the name of the song) are copyrighted to Jimmy Eat World. I don't own them either. (Otherwise they'd be bankrupt.) I do not manufacture anything. TAG body spray is made by someone else. There is no such thing as cherry lipstick (its lip gloss) according to my wee friend, so I _guess_ that belongs to me, but probably not. So, in short, I own nothing but a twisted brain and two stolen nylon scraps (nicked from the bag of them my mom uses to weave) I use as bracelets. No, she does not notice.

Chapter 1;  
Zomg! POCKY! and The body spray of d0om!

_  
(I am feeling particularly witty/hyper today… Blame the Pocky. I ate a whole box.)_

TO ZE STORY! –spurs horse and gallops off, cape flowing in the wind-

------------------------------------------------------

'_I got a story, it's almost finished,  
And all I need is someone to tell it to;  
Maybe that's you.'_

--------

"GAARA."

'_Feh.' _

"What?"

Temari stood beside the bed, clad in a long-sleeved fishnet shirt, a small, black, Jimmy Eat World Tee fitting loosely over it, hosting their name in a scribbly, white font, beside a picture of white headphones. Light blue denim jeans lengthened down under her heels, worn on the bottom and torn at the knees. Black high-top Converse concealed her feet, looking absolutely perfect. The white was as clean as it had been when she got them, which was months ago. Her shoes seemed to glow against Gaara's royal blue carpeting. All that black on Temari made her navy eyes look black, too. A cream-colored megaphone was held firmly before her mouth.

"REMOVE THE HEADPHONES AND NO ONE GETS HURT."

"Eh?"

Temari leaned in closer.

"REMOVE THE HEADPHONES."

Gaara stared at her blankly for a moment. A gear clicked in his brain and he suddenly made sense of her words, which had been significantly overruled by his music. He pulled the silver ear buds out from under his shaggy red hair, and clicked his CD player off.

"What is it you want?"

Temari removed the megaphone from her mouth, and let it hang at her side.

"Breakfast is ready."

"I'm not hungry."

Pale fingers floated back to his ears, attempting to replace the small, metallic buds. Temari snatched them by the wires, snarling menacingly. Gaara pouted at her, crossed his arms, and turned his head to glare at the corner opposite to his sister.

"I said breakfast is ready, meaning I made it for you, and because I made it for you, you will NOT take it for granted – that is, if you want to keep your precious pocky (1)!"

Gaara's eyelid twitched and his minty-green stare glazed over.

A sly smirk crawled across Temari's rose-colored lips. With one quick, stealthy movement she swiped the three boxes sitting on his dresser in one hand, Gaara's attack on her opposite arm proving useless.

"NOO!"

The blonde's gaze shifted downward to her little brother, who was clinging to her arm like a scared kitten, hyperventilating, staring at the red boxes in her hand. She did nothing to hide the giant grin on her face.

"ALRIGHT! OKAY! PUT THEM BACK! I'LL EAT YOUR SHITTY FOOD!"

Temari's eyelid twitched at the remark, though she brushed it off, totally denying the fact that her cooking might actually suck.

"Okay. Your eggs and bacon are already on the table for you," she said calmly, her arm moving very slowly back toward the glass surface of the dresser. Slowly, slowly, so… slow… Gaara was sweating, his eyes following every movement perfectly. The closer she got to setting it down, the tighter his grip got.

"Ouch, Gaara, you're stabbing my skin…"

"SHUT UP!" he screamed, eyes still locked onto the pocky, a prominent hungry, frantic look in his gaze. Temari stared at him like he was crazy, but he had officially given her the creeps, so she did as he said. Finally. Contact. Gaara slipped off of his sister so fast she couldn't even react, and bolted to his precious valuables, snatching them and running off down the hallway.

Temari turned red in anger.

"… GAARA YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"MWUAHHAAHAHAHHHAHAHAHA!" he yelled behind him, head craned around backwards toward his room, flying like lightning. Crash. Splat. Smash. Kankouro peered down at a crumpled Gaara, who was still clutching his pocky tightly to his chest. The look on his face consisted of everything having to do with being shocked and slightly disturbed. It's not everyday your stone-cold, placid, homicidal little brother comes running down the hallway like a maniac and smacks into your chest.

Temari sprinted toward his body, reaching down, and latching onto the red boxes, tried to pry them from his fingers.

"NOOO! NOO!" Gaara screeched, holding on with all of his might. Both siblings stared at him. "Gaara… calm down…" Temari said, clearly weirded out. "…" Kankouro had no response. He turned on his heel and hurried down the stairs to his breakfast, not really wanting to be part of this.

Temari yanked, Gaara tugged, but only one was hyperventilating, sweating, kicking, screaming… etcetera. Finally, the blonde released her slender, tapering fingers, and stood up straight, hands on her hips.

"Fine. I don't have time for this. Kankouro could probably eat your breakfast for you."

Gaara ignored her, turned over on his stomach, and cooed reassurance to his pocky. Temari stared and blinked for quite some time, then retreated downstairs to their small kitchen to eat breakfast.

Regaining composure, Gaara stood up, coughed, brushed himself off, and returned to his room. He placed two of the boxes on his dresser and went to sit down on his bed, examining the one in his hands. Slowly, he pried apart the seeming that kept the top closed, and pushed it up, removing one of the two packs inside. He ripped the teeth off, and grabbed a stick, holding it before his face. A smirk teased the corners of his mouth, which soon transformed into a wild grin.

"GAARA, YOU'LL BE LATE FOR SCHOOL IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASS MOVING!"

The loud, obnoxious scream of his sister caused him to cringe and grimace, shoving the box of pocky under the sheets and the one stick he had into his mouth nervously. Once he realized no one was coming for him or his precious valuables, he cautiously removed the red box and put it on the dresser, chewing slowly.

Gaara regained sanity, or at least a front of sanity, and navigated his way into the bathroom. He stared at his messy complexion in the mirror. Blink. Cough. Hack. Gag. Gag again. Loud, obnoxious gagging. The door swung open.

"Gaara! Are you okay!" Kankouro asked, panic reflecting in his eyes. The redhead sent him a death glare through the mirror. His older brother backed up steadily and clicked the door shut, walking back down the steps slowly. Gaara heard him break into a run once he hit the first floor. No emotion touched his face. As long as the pocky was out of his field of vision, he was relatively sane… sort of. His hand snaked around the hot water knob and the other went for the soap.

And Gaara… washed his face.

Temari's ear twitched, and her eyes glazed over. "K- Kankouro?" she asked meekly, turning her head around to look for him. She spotted him, no where near the sink. His expression was the same. He didn't answer her, simply stared through the window into space, like someone had just smacked him with a wet rabbit wearing a pancake for a cape and a pineapple crown.

"If… if the water is running… You're… You're not… That means…"

Kankouro nodded slowly, and their eyes met, exchanging identical glances of sheer horror.

"GAARA!" they yelled in unison. They both sprinted up the stairs, swung the door open, and stared at him, hyperventilating, eyes wide. Hygiene and their little brother did not mix. Gaara turned his head toward them, face sopping wet, staring back at them, eyelid twitching.

"…What?"

They gave him a weird look.

"He seems normal…" Kankouro said to Temari.

"Yeah…" she agreed.

"… Get out." Both nodded, still utterly shocked, backed out of the room, clicking the door closed, and walking down the stairs slowly, breaking into a run as soon as they hit the first floor.

Gaara finished rinsing off his face, then dried it, and stared back into the mirror. One hand went for his toothbrush, which he hugged between his palm and ring finger. He picked up the tube of toothpaste and unscrewed the cap with his thumb and pointer finger.

Temari's ear twitched, and her eyes glazed over. Her head creaked to the side, and Kankouro exchanged another horror-filled glance with her. His expression was exactly the same.

"GAARA!" they yelled again. They sprinted back up the stairs, swung the door open, and stared at him once more, breathing hard, eyes giant. Gaara turned his head toward them, foam on his lips, staring back angrily, eyelid twitching violently.

"…What!"

They gave him that same weird look.

"He still seems normal…" Kankouro said to Temari.

Temari was about to respond, but Gaara interrupted her, spinning around to face them.

"GET THE HELL OUT!" he yelled in frustration.

Temari and Kankouro blinked, Gaara fumed. He raised his tooth brush menacingly. Both siblings' eyes expanded to the size of dinner plates, and they rushed back down the stairs.

Gaara finished brushing his teeth, and stood in front of the sink for a while. He looked both ways nervously, and with great stealth in his snake-like movement, he snatched up the hairbrush, and ran out the door, slamming it behind him. He escaped into his bedroom and hid under the covers to muffle the sound of the hairbrush as best he could. He ran it through his hair quietly. Even though it defiantly stuck up in every which way, it still looked neater.

DOWNSTAIRS:

Temari looked up from her newspaper. "You hear something?"

"Eh, it was probably nothing," Kankouro responded.

Temari shrugged and continued reading, her feet up on the kitchen table.

UPSTAIRS:

Gaara snuck back out into the hallway, tip-toeing into the bathroom. He silently placed the hairbrush back into its place, and ran back to his room. He pulled the dresser drawers open violently, scanning his clothing, whilst stripping off his forest green, silk pajamas, with lime green dinosaurs printed on them.

Aha! Gaara pulled out a simple white Tee, and an orange hoodie with black, abstract markings scattered about the front of it. He opened the bottom drawer and stared silently at his selection of pants. (Gaara does not wear underwear. He does not believe it is necessary, thus refuses to waste the cotton, and also finds it much more comfortable without them.) His hand shot downward, and he grabbed a pair of black denim jeans, faded down the front to silver. He swiftly dressed himself, then fished through the top drawer for a pair of peds. He slipped on the socks, and stepped into his crimson red Converse. (A/N: Yey for Converse. :D)

Minty stare shifted toward the glass top of his dresser. Oh, no, surprisingly enough, he was not transfixed with his pocky but…

There it stood. So innocently, so quietly… A small, black bottle labeled "TAG" in red. Gaara's trembling arm extended slowly for it. His fingers closed around the bottle, and in one quick movement, it was by his side. Spray. Spray. Spray.

(A/N: DUH NUH NUH NUH!)

DOWNSTAIRS:

Temari looked around stealthily, trying to hide the vivid blush on her face. '_Kisama (2), spray…' _she cursed the body spray in her mind, and buried her face in the newspaper. '_HE'S YOUR KID BROTHER! GET OVER YOURSELF! Come on, that's GROSS!' _Temari flinched, got up, and threw herself into the bathroom. Her father, before he died, had always warned her to keep her 'nostrils closed.' She had to protect herself – and Gaara! (A/N: … The stupidity is making me cringe. I cannot believe I'm writing this.) Kankouro stared, shook his head, and sighed.

"Temari, Temari, Temari…" Of course, he was a guy; he was totally oblivious to it. He would never understand Temari's difficult situation.

SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY:

Sasuke fidgeted nervously. Naruto relaxed from his fighting pose.

"Err… Sasuke?"

Sasuke's pale face went beet red. Naruto stared. His raven-haired teammate then ran off into the woods in an attempt to find where this smell was coming from.

BACK TO GAARA 'CAUSE THIS STORY IS ABOUT HIM. YEAH.

Gaara, now ready for school, walked casually down the hallway to the stairs, hands folded neatly in the pocket located at the bottom of his hoodie. As he passed the upstairs bathroom, Temari attached herself to the door, black nails scraping into the wood, eyes wide. Gaara sauntered down the stairs.

"Where's Temari?"

"Err…" Killing intent seeped from the bathroom door. "She's… using the bathroom. Let's get going so we're not late. She'll catch up with us at school."

Gaara shrugged, and walked to the door, seeming extremely sane. Inside, he was breaking. '_My dearest pocky, I will be back for you! I swear to it!' _Kankouro followed behind him, dressed in a dark blue T-shirt and light blue denim jeans, a black, fingerless glove concealing his left hand. The boy tended to dress simply. He wore suede, black and white Etnies. Gaara hated those Etnies. He refused to even look at them. The thought of Etnies just gave him the shivers. … Etnies. Shiver.

Once Temari acknowledged that the body spray had left the house, she yanked her finger-nails out of the doorframe and left for school.

As soon as Kankouro and Gaara turned the bend and were walking across from the park where there were… people… Kankouro made it his business to escape. "Hey, uhm, I'm gonna go catch up with some friends. Jaa (3), Gaara!" And just in time…

"ZOMG!"

Gaara was pelted with girls before he could even look in the direction of the scream. The most he could do was stand there stock still, eyes the size of dinner plates, while girls pounced on him and tried to pull him down. However, they all bounced off of him and into Neji, seeing how he had turned into a stiff, rubbery board. They quickly grew frustrated because of this, and banned together into a giant wave to glomp him. Gaara could merely stand there, totally astonished.

Before he knew it, the redhead was flat on his back, grounded into the sidewalk by a pile of girls. He squirmed, trying to escape. Suddenly, his hand slipped, and he tumbled onto someone. He face was planted between the shoulder and neck of… He forced his head to fling backwards to see just who --

"SASUKE!"

The Uchiha grinned innocently at him.

"THE HELL!"

"You smelled nice."

Gaara gave a rather disturbed stare to the raven-haired boy with the maniac smile, and then screamed like a little girl. Motivated by sheer horror, he pushed his way through the pile. Call it a desperate want to survive, but the redhead somehow wriggled his way to freedom. He gasped in the fresh air, and sprinted down the street to school before anyone noticed him.

Of course, there had to be one more bend, and one crazy woman who'd set her backpack down at the park and left it there, so… Smash. Splat. Gaara ended up with his arms full of girl. Her head deposited itself into the crook of his neck, his chin raised to rest on her inky, silken hair. Both were completely still, eyes wide, mouths slightly agape. Out of instinct, Gaara had grabbed her by the sides, initially looking to push her off of him, but he found himself frozen in astonishment.

_'He… he smells… so…' _The mystery girl shook her head and pulled it away from him, not daring to open her eyes. Her face was tilted downward, blue black fringe shadowing her features.

"G-Gomen (4)!" she said nervously, and sprinted past him to the park, to retrieve her forgotten backpack. Gaara stood there, still totally shocked, eyelid twitching violently. Why the hell was he suddenly being attacked by girls in the street, and getting glomped by bands of them at the park? Gaara was totally clueless. With some time, he seemed to defrost, and continued on his way to school, now walking more calmly to avoid such an incident.

Gaara was greatly disturbed by these events, and decided he officially despised women. They were weird. He couldn't understand them, and he wasn't going to try to. He had no idea who any of them were, and he doubted they knew him… so why the hell would they attack him? The thought completely baffled him. He sighed inwardly to himself, hoping he wouldn't know any one of them… ever. However, he couldn't help himself from wondering. The face of the girl who'd bumped into him had never even been clear.

But after finding Uchiha Sasuke in a pile of rabid women, he really didn't want to see it anyway.

---  
Konoha Middle School.  
---

Gaara shoved himself through the doors, letting out a sigh of relief. The hallways were still pretty empty, and the violent thought of being glomped and suffocated slowly eased from his mind. He sauntered farther into the building, suddenly cut off by Kiba and his girlfriend. He was dragging her off by the hand, being as fast he was, she was struggling to catch up. It didn't seem like she cared, though. Ah, but everything crumbled to pieces as they bolted past. The girl had zoomed by so close to Gaara his hair was lifted from the sudden rush of wind. He watched her eyes expand, her lips part in surprise. In return, his widened to the size of dinner plates, and his mouth became a grim line.

The teenage girl was now being literally dragged by her boyfriend. His legs begged to run, but his muscles were frozen in fear. A twitchy-natured wiggle returned to his fingers, but it was far too late.

Gaara could merely stare in fright as the girl raced back to him, Kiba barely being able to keep up with her – and Kiba was damn fast. Just a second ago, it was the girl trying to stay in pace with her boyfriend. Gaara's face melted into tears, and he sobbed his eyes out, being tackled to the ground by the girl. He heard Kiba growling and cracking his knuckles. The redhead only cried harder.

A clawed hand appeared directly in front of his line of vision, 'causing him to end his crying abruptly with a gasp, and his eyes to grow wide once more. Kiba grasped his girlfriend by the shoulder and pulled her away, glaring down at Gaara.

His face was stained with little emo tears.

"You…" The growl was so menacing, so threatening, so cold and angry. Gaara's bottom lip trembled, and his arms instinctively crawled toward his face in defense. His eyes were shut tight, awaiting his beating as bravely as any wimp would.

-- Saved by the door, which swung open with great passion. Kiba's eyelid twitched, the fur on his hood swaying in the wind created by… a swarm… of… crazy… girls. He didn't get it, even being the super-smeller he was.

Gaara huddled into a ball, suddenly immensely happy he had fan girls. Or something like that… He smiled a very small smile, blocking out everything except for the fact that he was safe from the dog boy's rage.

Fan girls; the absolute defense.

"Gaara-kun, you smell amazing!" they rang out, but poor little Gaara was blocking everything out except for the comforting feeling of safety. Remember? Good. 'Cause it was like two lines ago. Kiba raised a brow, crossed his arms, and sniffed the air. He finally noticed. Gaara was laden a different aroma. The fanged boy pushed the new discovery away, and focused on waiting for his prey to be introduced to the fresh air. No one would budge.

Kiba gave up and left. The bell rang. Everyone squeezed Gaara tighter. Gaara wheezed. They all let go of him and announced their absolute adoration for him. He ignored them and went off to class.

Ah, the simplicity of it all.

The redhead made it his business to get to Math class before everyone else, as to not be pelted with girls again. He quietly pushed the door open and peered inside. No one was there. A smirk played across his pink lips, and he placed himself inside. As he clicked the door closed again, he noticed Kurenai-sensei sitting on her desk, staring at him with those crimson red eyes…

The emotions that made up her gaze made Gaara extremely uncomfortable. His eyelid twitched, and beads of sweat began to form above his brow.

"Ehh… heh heh…" he choked out nervously, shimmying down the wall to the back. With every step he took, she scooted closer to him till she was dangling off the edge. Gaara swallowed the saliva in his throat and slipped his chair out, placing himself neatly on the wooden base, still gaining glances from the sensei, which disturbed the hell out of him… (A/N: I'm scaring myself.)

Gaara resisted the urge to shove his head under the desk and hide as the door flew open. A sea of girls pushed through, fighting over who got to sit near him. The redhead looked on in terror. People were going down. How… violent. His eyelid began twitching hysterically. Minty stare floated to a pair of obsidian eyes and inky hair. The pale boy winked and waved. Gaara's eyelid twitched faster and harder, his hands deciding to join in, and he sat there, a twitching mass of raw disturbance. Finally, three girls were left, and they battled for the side positions. Gaara shielded his eyes with one twitching hand. He couldn't watch. It was so terrible. After a while, he peeked through his middle and ring finger, seeing the bruised girls take their seats, and once out of the way… Kurenai-sensei still staring him like that. His calmed eyelid began twitching again. He removed his hand, and averted his gaze from the teacher.

The lesson ended after what seemed like forever. Class was _hell._ Gaara was officially traumatized as he exited the small room, sticking his side to the wall as he walked away, hiding in the shadows.

_ZOMG FLASHBACK LOLOLOLOL!11! _

Kurenai sauntered slowly to the back of the room, still giving Gaara that intense gaze. He twitched violently in fear. As she reached his desk, she seated herself on its surface, knocking off pencils and books that were in her way. Gaara stared down at them, then looked timidly back at his sensei.

"Gaara-kun, what is… 2+2?"

Gaara's eyes widened, the closeness officially giving him the chills. People stared, and killing intent replaced any other emotion in the girls' bodies. The redhead was sweating profusely.

"Err.. uh… well.. um.. F-five."

"Very good," she answered, smiling that creepy, toothy smile. Gaara swallowed, staring at her like a frightened puppy.

Shino stared, then raised his hand slowly.

"But, err… he's wrong…"

In a flash of a movement, Kurenai sent Shino a glare and a kunai, with hit the center of his desk, splintering the wood. That got him quiet pretty quick. Everyone's eyes went really wide, and Kurenai returned her attention to the student sitting at the desk she was… sitting on_. _

ZOMG END FLASHBACK LOLOLOLOL!11!

(A/N: AH! The sickness of my own mind disgusts me!)

Gaara hadn't blinked in 8 whole minutes. He felt like he really needed to be glomped by a bunch of girls right now.

…Let's just say poor Gaara got what he wanted. Be careful what you wish for…

The end of the school day took far too long to come. Gaara was so relieved to be able to escape from that girl-infested building. He stepped out onto the green lawn, and looked up at the pale, blue sky. Puffy white clouds floated by serenely. The fresh air… Ah. It felt nice to breathe. The redhead hadn't gotten to do much of that today. He smiled a rare, genuine grin to the sky, shoving his hands into his pocket.

His world of peace was crumbled when he was knocked to the ground by…

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ZOMG. CLIFFY-HANGERY. :D Yes, indeed.

Never, ever use TAG body spray…

(1) Pocky; a Japanese candy sort of thing. It's a biscuit stick dipped in chocolate. Go google a picture or something.  
(2) Kisama; 'Damn you' in Japanese.  
(3) Jaa; 'See you later'; shortening of Ja ne.  
(4) Gomen; 'Sorry'.

And I think we all know sensei means teacher?

The next one will be more serious. Sorry about that whole thing… ..; It was kind of stupid. Nice first impression, eh?

:) Five reviews? Pwease? It's not quite that much.


	2. Gaara gets a computer! and cookies

**The World You Love**

_GaaraxHinata. Gonna flame about it? Don't read. It's simple._

_I haven't quite figured out the entire plot for this story, but I know how it's going to be written out. The idea popped into my head whilst listening to Jimmy Eat World. I luff that band. Thanks to them, you shall now get this piece of crap that might actually be worth your time. :D Yey.  
_

**Warnings/ **Randomness, OOCness, who knows (the scariest of all. Seriously.), stuff that really doesn't make sense and is never explained (Gaara/Temari/Kankouro randomly living in Konoha), AU ish high school, three-headed ducks, pocky, dinosaurs, mature language, perverts, cherry lip gloss, TAG body spray, it will most likely suck, and there will probably be fluff. Lots.  
There is no Shukaku. I know, I know… go ahead. Cry. :( He doesn't fit in, is the only problem. Otherwise he would SO be here. I heart him.

You have been warned.

_  
_**Disclaimer/ **Naruto belongs to some fancy-shmancy Asian man. (Masashi Kishimoto?) All lyrics (and the title; 'tis the name of the song) are copyrighted to Jimmy Eat World. I don't own them either. (Otherwise they'd be bankrupt.) I do not manufacture anything. TAG body spray is made by someone else. I decided the cherry lipstick will be lip gloss to make it easier… AIM is made my AIMy people from AoHell. So, in short, I own nothing but a twisted brain and two stolen nylon scraps (nicked from the bag of them my mom uses to weave) I use as bracelets. No, she does not notice.

Chapter 2;  
Gaara gets a computer! … and some cookies…

_  
(Finally got five reviews:3)_

AND AWAAAY! –drags self off with on hand.- Screee…screeeee… SCREEEE…-squeaks against the floor-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

'_Our time is borrowed and spent too freely.  
Every minute I have, needs to be made up;  
But how?  
I'm looking for a nice way to say, "I'm out."_

**I want out.**'

--------

Gaara perked up immediately as a silver car rolled by, which happened to be blasting his favorite band.

"Hey! I know that song!"

He totally ignored the person on top of him for a moment.

"… Whatever…"

His attention snapped back to her – apparently it was a her, judging by the silky voice – and he had only a split second to wonder who she was before the unknown person attacked his face.

Gaara lay there with his eyelid twitching. He was suddenly extremely afraid to look at the stranger, but he did, 'cause we gotta resolve that cliff-hanger.

INO!

"WHAT THE FUCK!" he exclaimed into her mouth, somehow ripping away from her. When he did, she just curled up on his chest and looked like a kitten. It was… disturbing, to say the least.

He stared at her, frozen yet again.

"A-are… aren't you a lesbian?"

"Well, a-duh, silly!"

Gaara stared at her.

"Then… why did you…?"

"Put my mouth on top of yours and –"

"Uh, yeah…"

"Well, isn't it obvious? It's the –"

"GAARA!"

The redhead was so delighted to see his friends, and escape from school and the crazy girls that came with it, that he eliminated his chances of knowing the answer to the question he'd been asking all day.

He stood straight up, knocking Ino into the frosty grass (which she made a rather tacky imprint in), and leaving her with a pout. He zoomed in between Shino and Shikamaru.

"Get me away from this place!" he hissed.

"Uhh, yeah…" Shikamaru said, glancing at Ino, trying not to look obvious. He leaned over to whisper into Gaara's ear. "Isn't she a lesbian?"

"Yes," he replied bluntly.

Shino and Shikamaru blinked at him, disturbed by the thought. Several minutes passed of blinking. Finally, Shino broke the silence.

"Right, err…"

Shikamaru perked up.

"Oh! Yeah. Tomorrow's your birthday, right?"

"Mmmm," Gaara replied, as the three started off down the street.

'_Gaara-kun's birthday…' _Ino thought evilly.

---

Gaara's House.

---

"Jaa," Gaara called dryly to Shikamaru and Shino, raising his hand as he walked up the steps to his house.

"Jaa!" they answered, much more enthusiastically than he had.

"SABAKUNOGAARA!" The door flung itself open as his hand was just inches away from the door knob, bashing his head and knocking the wind from him.

Gaara found himself flat on his back, a throbbing pain pulsating through his entire face. He forced open an eye. It was only Temari… and thank God. As the redhead's eyes gradually floated closed, he caught Kankurou's figure appearing from the darkness that was the rest of the house.

"TEMARI! WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I… opened the door," she replied calmly. That's when Gaara's lids completely covered his minty-green eyes.

Nothing between the time when Gaara was knocked unconscious and when he woke up was important or even relevant. It consisted mostly of Kankurou repeatedly asking what Temari did, and Temari giving him the same exact answer every time.

Gaara stared up at the beige-colored ceiling of his small living room. He sat up to find his siblings staring at him expectantly.

"Hn… How long was I asleep for?"

Kankurou took a look at his watch.

"Hmmm… About five minutes."

Gaara nodded with little emotion on his features, which, strangely enough, added loads of drama, temporarily turning everything into a cheesy movie scene.

Temari blinked.

"'Kay… well… whatever. GAARA IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!" Kankurou held Temari back from pouncing on her little brother.

Gaara coughed.

"REALLY? I never knew!"

His siblings blinked. The words were… not… dripping with sarcasm. In fact, Kankurou couldn't detect even an ounce of the sarcastic tone he'd expected to go along with that sort of sentence. Gaara blinked back.

"… Right. Well, yeah. Temari and I were wondering if you wanted to do something… 'cause… you know… uhm…" Kankurou stared at Gaara's enthusiastic puppy face. He looked ready to pounce. Both siblings blinked. Gaara happily blinked back.

"… 'Kay then…" Temari said, her words immediately eaten by the silence. It was rather awkward.

"… I want a computer," Gaara said calmly, regaining his regular emotionless front. His brother and sister sighed in relief, relaxing now that he seemed normal again.

"Hmmm… That's not a bad idea," Temari said, thinking.

Gaara shrugged.

"Well, you guys always had computers… I've hardly even looked at them." Gaara's reasoning was decently practical. Kankurou nodded, and with that, the sand sibs did their signature silently-go-off-and-not-see-each-other-for-the-rest-of-the-day thingy.

What happened the rest of the day was unimportant, uneventful, and basically irrelevant. It consisted mostly of Gaara hiding from the fan girls in his bedroom with the curtains closed, Temari spending hours at the mall deciding what to get for her brother, and Kankurou was at home, locked in his room, thinking about what to get his brother.

It was 1 AM when they finally sat down for dinner, and it was a silent dinner of Temari's pork ramen. "G'night…" "Hn…" "Yawn. Sleep well…"

Gaara retreated to his navy blue room and pulled back his super-suede comforter. He changed into his green dino pajamas and crawled into bed, welcoming the warmth and comfort of the soft mattress.

… And then he stared at the ceiling, unblinking, till the clock hit exactly 5:00.

That was when Gaara… BLINKED! … and automatically fell asleep.

---

30 minutes later…

---

The door to Gaara's room busted open and Temari, still in her pink and white striped silk pajamas, flung herself through the frame, grabbing her brother's shoulders and shaking him violently.

"ZOMG! GAARA! YOU WERE OFFICIALLY JUST BORN!"

Thousands of cookies, at that very moment, zoomed through the window, smashing it to pieces. With the amount of momentum they had left, they all landed perfectly on top of the redhead. Gaara sat up, his puppy face immediately returning.

Temari blinked at all the cookies. Gaara's cute facade melted away, and he picked up one of the cookies to examine it. He blinked. It was… a Gaara cookie. As in, his face was literally painted on the top of it in different color icings that matched the shades of his hair, skin, and eyes perfectly… The puppy face flashed back and he shoved the cookie into his mouth.

"Cha!" he squealed.

Temari stealthily reached for a cookie whilst her brother was stuffing his face. A high-pitched scream pierced through the entire house as her black fingernails, the polish now slightly chipped, were millimeters from the surface of the chocolate-chip Gaara. She winced, and Gaara hyperventilated. Kankurou, clad in only navy blue sweatpants, appeared instantaneously in the doorway.

"What happen – What's with all the cookies?" Kankurou blinked. Gaara made a puppy face at him. Temari was still wincing.

"… Nevermind."

An awkward silence followed, and everything stared at the cookies. Gaara slowly munched on the one he held in his hand.

"… WE'RE GOING TO THE STORE!" he exclaimed suddenly.

Kankurou jumped.

"Gaara, it's 5:30…"

Gaara probably didn't even hear that. He shoved Temari and Kankurou out of his room, and within seconds, swung it open again, dressed in a white sweater with a purple stripe running across the chest, and dark blue jeans, with of course, his red Converse.

"Away!" he shouted enthusiastically, starting off to the stairs.

"None of the stores are open," Kankurou warned.

Gaara spun around cheerily.

"Walmart is!"

At that very moment, tons of random things from Walmart landed on Gaara. Everyone ignored it. Temari thought for a second while her brother struggled to get to the top of the pile.

"Hey, if you can wait three hours, we can go out and get you whatever you want!" Kankurou looked at her like she was nuts. Who knew what Gaara would ask for… She gave him a warning glance, which tried to say she knew what she was doing. Quite frankly, Kankurou completely doubted that.

Gaara perked up, his head appearing suddenly from underneath the hammers, candles, office chairs, soaps, DVDs, bags of garden soil, etc, none of which being anything he wanted…though an office chair might come in handy… Hmmm…

"All right, I can do that!"

Temari grinned.

"Great!"

Kankurou just blinked and shrugged, knowing this would turn out very ugly. He tugged on Temari's sleeve, and gestured for her to go to her bedroom, and returned to his own. The blonde took that as a sign to get dressed, and gladly left Gaara in his pile of Walmart stuff to do so.

Kankurou came out a little bit before his sister did. He was wearing a long, forest-green shirt with a skateboarder on it, or something like that, and dark blue jeans that caught under his heels.

Temari followed quickly after him, dressed in a black shirt, with a thin, pink sweater, and pale pink pants with a black belt. Her Converse corresponded nicely.

The two stared with extremely bored expressions at Gaara, who was still struggling with the sea of Walmart stuff. They made no effort to help him. Suddenly, his minty green eyes flashed across something he was more than vaguely interested.

"ZOMG A COOKIE!"

"Gaara, that's a –" Temari flinched as it entered her little brother's mouth.

Time paused. Gaara's eyelid twitched. Slowly, he removed what he had believed to have been a Gaara cookie.

"… chimpanzee," he finished.

Suddenly, Gaara pulled something out of his pocket, apparently motivated to take a picture of himself with a spoon up his nose – 'cause that's exactly what he did. Temari blinked at him.

"They have chimps at Walmart…?" Kankurou questioned.

Temari just kept blinking.

She blinked for about 3 hours.

In those three hours, Gaara regained temporary sanity. He peeked at the clock on the wall.

"Eight thirty…"

"Eh?"

"It's eight thirty."

"Oh…"

Gaara stared at her blankly. He stood up, brushing off miscellaneous items.

"Right, then… Let's go," Kankurou said, motioning toward the steps.

The redhead was the first to make a move. He slowly sauntered down the stairs. Temari leaned over to whisper into her brother's ear.

"I think either the lack or over-dose of pocky has driven him slightly insane…"

"Slightly? He's crazed!" Kankurou whispered back hoarsely.

Gaara could of course hear them loud and clear, but after three hours of absolute silent, he was sober. He did nothing, because he could care less. Normal Gaara. Wheee!

---

The air outside was chilly and harsh, but relatively pleasant otherwise. There was a mere half inch of snow on the grass, but the sidewalks were clear, and the road was already dry. Everything gleamed slightly, but was melting fast in the sun. The sky was a pale blue, and the horizon appeared slightly hazy. A film seemed to dim the sun's glowing radiance. The trees dripped last night's snow, now melting quickly. It looked a bit disorganized, with patches of grass sticking up everywhere, and blotches of wet pavement on the street.

Your typical winter's day.

Gaara sighed contentedly, his breath frosty and billowing in the cool air. January 19; the favorite day of every girl in Konoha… and Suna, and… etc. Except for… Temari. Yeah. She could care less, it was just the spending money and buying stuff for herself on the side that she liked.

Naw, she loved her little brother… somewhere down in that material heart.

The sand siblings didn't seem to have much trouble on the streets, at first, but the second they began to notice was when it all started…

"ZOMG!"

Gaara tried to whip his head around, but was caught in mid-turn, immediately pelted with all sorts of cookies that had his face perfectly painted on the tops.

The redhead popped up at the top of the mountain, looking down at the cookies.

"… cookies."

"…"

"… Happy birthday!" the girls sang meekly, suddenly feeling very awkward.

Gaara looked at them slowly.

"Fanks!" His façade melted into a puppy-grin.

The fan girls blinked and stared, then suddenly erupted into a chorus of "AWW, HE'S SO CUUUTE!"

"Cha!" was Gaara's only response, and he disappeared into the sea of cookies, munching away happily. Temari and Kankurou blinked.

"This isn't good…" Temari said.

"Way to make the biggest understatement of the year."

Kankurou slowly turned his head toward her, and stared blankly, crossing his arms. Temari shuddered. Not because it was cold, but not because Kankurou was acting an awful lot like Gaara, or because the real Gaara was sitting in his pile of cookies and fondling one of the chocolate-chip ones. She shuddered because... Who knows. Work with me. Temari had to do _something_.

The fan girls never seemed to tire from standing around and cooing, while the mountain of cookies quickly flattened, one cookie at a time.

With only around 20 cookies left, Gaara sat in the layer of sweets and crossed his arms, pouting. You wouldn't believe how quickly those girls scrammed. They came back clumps at a time, pelting him with fresh, warm cookies.

"KYAH!" Gaara screamed happily, diving deeper into the cookies, while the others watched it dwindle down again.

… one cookie left…

Everyone leaned in to watch, the suspense disabling their ability to blink. Gaara's pale hand reached for the sugary warmness. It was indeed a sugar cookie, but instead of his face painted with icing, it hosted his face created with different colored sugar crystals.

… his fingers closed around it…

… he brought his hand closer and closer…

… munch… munch… munch…

A giant sigh escaped in unison from every person there. Gaara finished his cookie with his eyes closed, then bolted upward, minty orbs now peeled open wide.

"CHYEAAAAH!" he squealed, running down the sidewalk full speed. Temari and Kankurou stared after him with very disturbed expressions.

Gaara slipped on a wet spot and fell on his face.

Temari sighed, and Kankurou started off after him, soon followed by his sister. They reached him, both on an opposite side, and without pausing or slowing down, they grabbed his arms, dragging him along.

After a while, Gaara perked up again, constantly walking a little faster than his siblings, and darting his eyes around. It was slightly creepy, but the part that bothered Temari and Kankurou the most was the never-ending train of pointless questions.

"Who lives there? What's with that tree? How come that cat is peeing on Shino?"

Gaara seemed to talk a little faster than usual. As expected, he was having a giant sugar-high. His siblings just ignored him.

The trio made their way to the fancy computer store, occasionally being pelted by billions of cookies all at once. After a while, Gaara got a little crafty, and soon was skilled enough to catch them all in his mouth. This saved a lot of time, and made him extremely happy.

"Here we are!" Temari exclaimed cheerily.

Gaara busted through the door and ran around the entire shop exactly 43 times (Kankurou counted) before he came to a halt. Everyone blinked at him. Temari knew something about computers, so she looked around while Kankurou basically had to baby-sit Gaara. (which consisted of mostly following slowly after a bolting redhead, and occasionally they threw in some "Oooo! Shiny!" "-twitch-" sort of things.)

"Hey guys!" Temari called from the cash register. For the first time that day, Kankurou's head flew faster than Gaara's, and his legs ran almost two times faster. To be out of that stuffy store, and away from it's shiny products, was a miracle.

The trip home was extremely fast, with Kankurou latched onto his sister's wrist, tugging her along, and despite the fact that Gaara occasionally lagged behind to catch cookies in his mouth.

Kankurou broke down the door while Temari fumbled around in her pockets for the key. She blinked, looking up to see the front door flat on the ground, and a steamy trail where her brother had bolted up the stairs. Gaara walked in whistling, and Temari just shook her head and followed him.

Gaara helped his sister carry the computer and monitor into his room, where they set it on the floor. The redhead seemed sober again, which is why Temari trusted him to help her also carry in a small desk. It was more of a nightstand-type-thing than a desk, but anyway, it was a small table that sat around gathering dust in the hallway. All it was used for was to hold a vase of yellow flowers, which she moved onto the middle of the kitchen table.

The computer was set up in an instant, and everything was programmed. (Temari's good at that stuff.) Kankurou walked in with a bag of chips when his sister was showing his little brother the works.

"… and you might want AIM."

"Eh?"

"It's an instant messenger. You can talk to your friends over the internet.

"Like e-mail?"

"Er… sort of. You get the message instantly, though. Here, I'll show you."

Kankurou watched as Temari got him onto the website, and showed him the form, which he promptly filled out, wearing a cheery grin.

After clicking enter, Gaara's account was created, and Temari swiftly showed him how to use it. He got a new icon with a cookie on it, and a little flashing heart.

"I'll add everyone I know for you. Oh, and this is Kankurou and me," she said, pointing to "PinkPunk911" and "dollz4boyz." Gaara nodded.

"Awesome!" he said, and decided to start randomly IMing people once Temari and Kankurou left.  
-----

**COOKiEmonster: **YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **…Who is this? OO  
**COOKiEmonster:** GAARA!  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **Dear God… I thought you died being buried in cookies like that.  
**COOKiEmonster: **coooooooookieeeeeees!1!  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **… I guess this is worse…  
**COOKiEmonster: **who are you?  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **Shikamaru.  
**COOKiEmonster:** awesome! okay, i'm going to talk to other people now. bye.  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **You do that. See ya…  
**COOKiEmonster:** yayayaaa!

-----  
Gaara clicked on another name and IMed it.  
-----

**COOKiEmonster:** HIIIIIIIIIIII!  
**underyourskin11:** …  
**COOKiEmonster:** who is this?  
**underyourskin11:** Shino.  
**COOKiEmonster: **awesome! this is gaara.  
**underyourskin11:** huh… Gaara. i thought you would have died by now…  
**COOKiEmonster:** hehe. that's what shikamaru said.  
**underyourskin11:** oi, Shikamaru…  
**COOKiEmonster:** i'm gonna talk to other people now. byeeee!  
**underyourskin11:** yeah, bye, Gaara.

-----  
Somewhere down the street in opposite directions…  
-----

**underyourskin11:** Gaara imed you?  
**ClearBlueSkies55:** Yeah. He get you, too?  
**underyourskin11:** mmhm…  
**underyourskin11:** somethings wrong with him.  
**ClearBlueSkies55:** I agree. We've got to do something about it.  
**underyourskin11:** hes had too much sugar. he ll kill someone, i swear…  
**ClearBlueSkies55:** Probably.  
**ClearBlueSkies55:** Let's find him when he signs off, before anything bad happens.  
**underyourskin11:** i officially hate January 19…  
**ClearBlueSkies55:** Haha.

-----

**COOKiEmonster:** HIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!  
**PinkPunk911:** … gaara… uhm  
**COOKiEmonster:** yeah.  
**PinkPunk911:** what do you want  
**COOKiEmonster:** help!  
**PinkPunk911:** with  
**COOKiEmonster:** stuff. shikamaru said 'OO' what does that mean?  
**PinkPunk911:** oohhh  
**PinkPunk911:** i'll teach you expressions and chatspeak  
**COOKiEmonster:** uh, okay.

_'What the hell is that?'_

**PinkPunk911:** first of all expressions are faces  
**COOKiEmonster:** kay.  
**PinkPunk911:** and chatspeak is abbreviations and stuff  
**COOKiEmonster:** ohhh.  
**PinkPunk911:** just listen  
**COOKiEmonster:** right.  
**PinkPunk911:** expressions  
**PinkPunk911:** O.O/OO is a wtf sort of face a disturbed one or a shocked one  
**COOKiEmonster:** wtf?  
**PinkPunk911:** oh that's chatspeak we'll get to that later  
**PinkPunk911:** o.o/oo is the same thing except on a lower level  
**PinkPunk911:** -.-/-- is a yeah right, suuuure, sigh or something otherwise sarcastic  
**PinkPunk911:** Oo/O.o (oO/o.O) means the person is weirded out  
**PinkPunk911:** :3 is a cute face  
**PinkPunk911:** :) is a happy face so is :D  
**PinkPunk911:** :( is a sad/unhappy face and so is D:  
**PinkPunk911:** B) is a cool face and is happy, too  
**PinkPunk911:** crying is :'( and you can add it to a happy face for happy tears :') or you can put it on the cute face for a precious face or something like that :'3  
**PinkPunk911:** and then you can put – around your words for action like –kicks kankurou-

**COOKiEmonster:** haha! okay i get it now.  
**PinkPunk911:** wait chatspeak now  
**COOKiEmonster:** oh okay.  
**PinkPunk911:** i'll just do the basics  
**PinkPunk911:** ok is okay w/e is whatever nvm is nevermind brb is be right back wtf is what the fuck wth is what the hell lol is laugh out loud lmao is laugh my ass off you can also do lmfao for laugh my fucking ass off and rofl is roll on floor laughing  
**PinkPunk911:** then idk is i don't know idc is i don't care atm is at the moment afk is away from keyboard omg is oh my god thx is thanks k is kay bi is bye basically if you sound stuff out you can get it and you'll get good at figuring out the abbreviations soon  
**COOKiEmonster:** it's so confusing without commas, you know.  
**PinkPunk911: **-.- whatever gaara do you get it?  
**COOKiEmonster:** yeah. thanks.  
**PinkPunk911:** bye  
**COOKiEmonster:** bye.

-----

**ClearBlueSkies55 invited you to start a Buddy Chat session.  
Do you accept?**

-----  
Gaara hit the yes button.  
-----

**dollz4boyz: **yo, gaara-san  
**PUPDoggehd0g45:** sup  
**ClearBlueSkies: **Hey.  
**COOKiEmonster:** hiya.  
**underyourskin11: **hi, Gaara.  
**COOKiEmonster:** sup?  
**PUPDoggehd0g45:** wuts up

_'Wut…? Ohhh. What. Temari was right, this isn't so hard.'_

**COOKiEmonster: **oh. not much. but this chat thing is cool. :) you?  
**PUPDoggehd0g45:** nm

_'nm… Not much. Okay, cool.'_

**ClearBlueSkies55: **Kiba, did Hinata ever tell you why she was so… weird… yesterday?  
**PUPDoggehd0g45: **o yea  
**PUPDoggehd0g45:** she said sumthin like she was just feelin tired & crap e but i didn't buy it she was bein rly weird  
**underyourskin11: **yeah. Hinata's always awkward all the time but she was even more skittish than usual.  
**dollz4boyz: **hinata?  
**COOKiEmonster: **yeah who's that?  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **The Hyuuga girl. You know, violet Byakugan, blue-black hair – it's cut really weird. She's timid and stuff. Really polite. She's odd.  
**PUPDoggehd0g45: **stfu shika you hardly no her  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **Hey, hey, hey! Sorry, geez.  
**COOKiEmonster:** i think i know who you mean. k.

_'Blue-black hair… cut weird… I never saw her face, but that could've been her. Yeah, she seemed really shy.'_

**COOKiEmonster: **i gotta go. sorry. bye.  
**PUPDoggehd0g45:** bi  
**underyourskin11:** see ya.  
**dollz4boyz:** later  
**COOKiEmonster has left the room.  
ClearBlueSkies55: **I gotta go, too. Bye everyone!  
**underyourskin11: **… talk to you later.  
**PUPDoggehd0g45: **gosh lol ur all leavin  
**underyourskin11: **i think i gotta go too.  
**dollz4boyz: **aww bye guys  
**PUPDoggehd0g45: **bi!  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **Bye.  
**ClearBlueSkies55 has left the room.  
underyourskin11 has left the room.**

COOKiEmonster has signed off.

ClearBlueSkies55: Commence mission!  
**underyourskin11: **is that necessary?  
**ClearBlueSkies55: **Not really. But let's go.  
**underyourskin11: **meet me two houses down from Gaara's apartment.  
**ClearBlueSkies55:** Okay. Bye.  
**underyourskin11: **bye.

**underyourskin11 has signed off.  
ClearBlueSkies55 has signed off.**

-----  
"COOOKIIEEES!" Gaara sang, pouncing on Kankurou. He clung to his shirt, hyperventilating. His older brother blinked, trembling for a moment in shock.

"Err, uhm… happy birthday, Gaara," he said nervously, thrusting the cookie at his little brother, who opened his jaws and clamped down on Kankurou's wrist. He screamed like a sissy.

---

Somewhere outside on the recently renamed Gaara St. …

---

"OH NOES!" Shino screamed, turning chibi and running around, waving his arms all over.

Shikamaru picked up the chibi bug boy by the back of his collar, though he still waved about and moved his legs swiftly as if running.

"He must have already begun the killing spree!" Shino's eyes bulged, and his glasses flew across the sidewalk.

Shikamaru smacked the chibi Shino across the face. He shut up and went limp in his friend's hand.

"Shino, what the hell are you going on about? You're starting to sound like…"

At that very moment, Sasuke strutted down the sidewalk in nothing but heart-boxers, and of course he didn't have pockets, so his hands were… in his boxers. No one even seemed to notice. He glared daggers out of the corners of his eyes at the two boys, who glared back, their gaze following him as he walked past.

"Oojeeha Saucy-kay…" Shikamaru's cold whisper was bitter even against the raw, frosty air. Shino shivered in the… raw… frosty air, and Shikamaru's… cold, bitter whisper. Then he coughed and wheezed like a dying man. They were silent for a moment, eyes narrowed at where the Uchiha had disappeared down the street. Shikamaru blinked.

"Right, so. Gaara. He's probably killed someone. Let's go find the body before he consumes the entire thing, making the corpse completely unidentifiable…" Shino stared like a dear in the headlights, still hanging motionless from Shikamaru's fingers.

… Oh look a pretty building!

And now back to Shikamaru and Shino, who has returned to normal size and is standing next to his friend like a regular, sane person. Glasses included. Who is not chibi. At all.

They strutted off like men-in-black people, except without the black suits, and only Shino had glasses. In fact, the only thing men-in-blacky about them was the walk. Sort of. If you're random and thought that way.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Meh… I don't know what else to write. xD I hope it wasn't bad, though. Oo I'm starting to think these chapters are a bit useless and kind of… er… 'out there' as o-dragon said. Feh.

But five reviews is all I ask for!

Right, well, as you can see, I tried giving the characters different writing styles, 'cause people do and yeah…  
Gaara does not use capitalization, but uses punctuation and otherwise correct grammar.  
Shikamaru is… perfect. xD  
Shino uses punctuation, correct grammar, but no apostrophes, and only capitalizes proper nouns.  
Kiba uses chatspeak, and no punctuation or capitalization.  
Temari uses correct grammar, but only occasional punctuation and no capitalization.  
Kankurou does the same thing.

More people come into the IMing world! And there is more Hinata in the next chapter. (Gaara has gone off to find her, if you didn't get that. –scratches head, trying to think of if I even made it noticeable- hmmm…)

satinsoul5 - :3 Just hearing (reading?) someone laugh fills me with a feeling of accomplishment. Maybe it was the caps… anyway, thanks loooaaads for the review:D

MissMelody21 – AHA. Yeah, hmm. I think I own every room in every crazy clinic for every mental disability and personality… Whoo! Glad you liked.

o-dragon – I'm extremely weird. :( But alas… Well, yuh, I'm happy you liked it. Although I'm almost certain this chapter was nearly the same thing… Ehh. At least the notes helped…! XD I accomplished something. Woot.

Spirit of the Dragon – HAHA. :D I'm glad you liked it. Sasuke is extremely odd in this fanfiction. (I hate him… so… bad…)

Mayangirl6 – I loved reading your review. :D It made me feel extremely good about my random text stuck together into some warped thing someone could/might/possibly consider a story. I'm so proud when people like my stuff.

THANK YOU ALL! –showers with Gaara cookies-

Gaara: … -ZOMGGIRLISHSISSYSCREAM-  
Me: … … …I DIDN'T KNOW! –runs for dear life-  
Gaara: -desert coffins several random people/things as I dodge the sand sort of like Vash the Stampede might do-  
Me: WHEEE VASH! –skedaddle-  
Gaara: -growl-  
Me: -about to scream- –abrupt stop-  
Gaara: -stares impatiently-  
Me: You know… you kind of look like Robin, except with red hair and some schmexy tattoo… I'd like to see you shirtless. ;) (oh, psh, as if I haven't)  
Gaara: -stress mark-  
Me: oo; -skeeedaddle-

EDIT:

ZOMG. I thought I had this up already! And then I looked, frustrated 'cause I wasn't getting reviews and… WHERE DE HELL IS DA CHAPTER? What chapter? Eh? Etc…. SO HERE IT IS. And I am immensely sorry for all of that crap. D:


	3. Sugar Crash

**The World You Love**

_GaaraxHinata. Gonna flame about it? Don't read. It's simple._

_I haven't quite figured out the entire plot for this story, but I know how it's going to be written out. The idea popped into my head whilst listening to Jimmy Eat World. I luff that band. Thanks to them, you shall now get this piece of crap that might actually be worth your time. :D Yey.  
_

**Warnings/ **Randomness, OOCness, who knows (the scariest of all. Seriously.), stuff that really doesn't make sense and is never explained (Gaara/Temari/Kankouro randomly living in Konoha), AU ish high school, three-headed ducks, pocky, dinosaurs, mature language, perverts, cherry lip gloss, TAG body spray, it will most likely suck, and there will probably be fluff. Lots.  
There is no Shukaku. I know, I know… go ahead. Cry. :( He doesn't fit in, is the only problem. Otherwise he would SO be here. I heart him.

You have been warned.

_  
_**Disclaimer/ **I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would SO have worn a dress by now. :) I am not in any way associated with Brandavo since it doesn't exist, and I have nothing to do with Jimmy Eat World or their song.

Chapter 2;  
Sugar Crash

_  
(This is going to be way more serious.)_

Three… Two… One… LIFTOFF!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

'_I fall asleep with my friends around me,  
The only place I know, I feel safe;  
I'm gonna call this home.  
The open road is still miles away.  
Ain't nothin' serious,  
We still have our fun._  
_Oh, we had it once._

But windows open and close,  
That's just how it goes.'

--------

Gaara had his earbuds in again, that same song blaring into his head and reverberating through his entire body.

His head bobbed in perfect rhythm, his forefinger tapping against the side of his iPod.

Merely 10 minutes before, he had gotten out of the shower, and in the process, had a giant sugar crash. He felt like he had never been this calm in his entire life.

Now, with slightly damp hair, and a TAG-free scent, he was walking down the sidewalk with his mp3 player in hand.

He was anxious to get out of the house, so he had forgotten to use his body spray, oblivious that the effects of this action would leave him happily girl-free.

He also failed to make the connection between the lack of women and the lack of body spray.

Oh well. At least it delayed his funeral, even by a little bit.

The air around him was chilly, especially because the sun was beginning its steady depart to the horizon.

It was lower in the sky now, bathing the world in gold, and leaving everything a little bit frostier.

Gaara could see his breath rolling forward in the space before his lips.

He wasn't really sure where he was going, or exactly why.

No, no. He knew why.

It was to find her.

But why he wanted to? Well, that was the part he couldn't completely explain. He figured it was how he hadn't seen her after they'd crashed into each other on the sidewalk, when it seemed like the entire female population was flocking around him.

And, partly, she intrigued him. There was something about how she had hidden her face that made him want to see it; very badly.

He doubted he would find her, but he just had to go look. To just see if she was there, somewhere.

Gaara's wandering brought him, by chance, to the park. It looked empty. The sun was sinking lower and lower, casting an eerie shadow beneath the trees.

Strange shapes appeared seemingly from no where, like they always did in the dark and when it was coming. Unexplainable shadows from things you didn't notice during the day.

The redhead's tired gaze was suddenly transfixed by how absolutely magical it looked, in just this moment. Not particularly magical in the way that fantasy is, or Disney World. It just didn't look natural.

It looked to him like a painting. Something only hinting darkness, that was slightly troubling, though equally beautiful.

It was meant to unsettle and entrance at the same time.

Gaara was so enchanted by the park-turned-picture that he practically jumped out of his skin when he noticed a dark figure sitting on a bench under the willow tree.

His heart skipped for a second, purely out of excitement.

He shouldn't have had any idea, not a guess or a chance or a gamble. He shouldn't have known.

But he did.

And only God knows why.

Faintly, in the back of his mind, he heard the far-off blasting of rave music coming from his left. It was probably coming from a club somewhere, where they were most likely celebrating his birthday without him.

He stood there, facing that figure. It was only on the other side of the street, but entirely too far away.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped onto the pavement. His iPod was clicked off simultaneously, and he pulled the buds out of his ears. They hung around his neck, swinging back and forth.

The tiny clap his shoes made against the ground echoed in his ears.

Either that, or it was his heartbeat that was pounding so loudly.

He had no clue why he was nervous. He supposed it wasn't _really_ nervousness, just that exhilaration you get when you read the last page of a book, or come to the conclusion of a mystery show.

As he approached the figure, it became clearer and details started to pop up. It was indeed a girl, and the closer he got, the more he realized that she was totally unaware of him. She was staring off somewhere – at least, it looked like she was. Maybe she was sleeping.

Finally, he was close enough to see her facial features. Not that that did much for him, anyway. It was still difficult to see. Her eyes were half-lidded from what he could tell, though her bangs overshadowed the pale skin of her face much as they had the day they'd collided on the corner.

She looked like she could be sleeping or spacing out.

Gaara glanced at the sky, the sun now much lower, and threatening to disappear completely at any moment. A darkness was quickly enveloping the town.

Again he looked at the girl. She was a good 10 feet away, and if she were awake, she must definitely be in her own little world, because she still hadn't noted his presence.

Hesitantly, he stepped closer. His minty gaze traveled over her cautiously. He wouldn't want to alarm her, not to mention that every five seconds he was wondering if he should just turn around and leave.

But every second after that he remembered how he'd come outside in the cold, with less than half a chance at randomly finding this unknown girl when, if she wasn't inside by the fire, should be at his birthday party down the street (at which he failed to show) dancing her little heart out.

Gaara, as you can see, didn't know Hyuuga Hinata very well. In fact, he wasn't even completely sure of her name and identity. Was this her, sitting in front of him? He couldn't really know.

Only somehow, some way, he felt like he did.

So, on that note, without permitting his brain to pause and scare him with its silly practicality, he acted on that very second and paced toward the bench.

The second he put his foot on the other sidewalk, her gaze snapped to his face. She inhaled sharply, and looked as though she might jump out of her skin. This fear was only momentary, and quickly her face turned beet red and angled downward, her eyes turning to look off to the left.

The flush of her face was noticeable, even in the twilight.

He scratched the back of his head, feeling silly for just hovering over some poor helpless girl sitting in the dark, and probably scaring ten years right off of her life.

"Ahh…" he started.

He noticed that she didn't seem to hear. An awkward silence followed. Five seconds past, then ten, and soon almost a minute had glided by.

"… Gomen," he finished. Late, but better than never.

"Ehh…"

Her voice was high and fragile, he noticed, and portrayed her insecurity in one quick stroke. When she didn't say anything, and simply stared off in humiliation with her face red, he was tempted to look away himself.

"Well, er… sorry to bother you…"

He had no idea what to say. He'd come out here, found this girl by pure luck, and was about to walk away. That made no sense to him. So he didn't, he simply stood there after hinting to her that he was going to leave.

That made no sense to him either. Flushing slightly, he peered at his feet, and nervously chewed the bump on his wrist.

She chanced a glance at him, her eyes deep and timid, entirely unsure.

Immediately she looked away again, her face darkening very slightly.

"Ahhh…" He just couldn't say nothing, right?

"You're… Hyuuga Hinata?"

"Hai."

Her answer was quick, rigid, and nervous, practically cutting him off. He was quiet again.

"… I'm… Gaara."

"… Gaara."

The word formed slowly on her lips, and she spoke it as if were some new, interesting thing that she had never heard of before. In such a way that it seemed she was… trying it out, for lack of a better phrase.

"Gaara," she said again.

He felt his face grow slightly hot at the sound of his name; the way that she said it. Her tiny voice so very careful with something he'd tossed around all of his life, because, well, he was used to it. Gaara. It was just his name. But the way she made it sound like an entire sentence, a whole story, made him slightly uncomfortable.

He didn't know why.

"Uhm, yeah…" He said again, after a moment.

He peeked at her, noticing that her blush was faded now. She looked more peaceful, her shoulders at ease. It gripped him somehow, in some way. He sat down next to her.

She made no comment, and so he had no reply. But he noticed the ghost smile on her face. The one that doesn't really show, that doesn't change your mouth but shines through your features. Smiling without really doing so, that is.

Gaara traced her pale neck with his eyes, curving over her slender arm. Her sleeve had fallen very slightly, so that it was just barely at the slope of her shoulder. It looked vulnerable like that. Sweetly innocent, and he hated it.

So he looked away, off into the trees at his right. Away from the girl.

Subconsciously, his knee bobbed up and down.

And then, to his surprise, she began to hum. He peered over at her again, not sure if she realized the velvety notes were slipping through her closed lips. It didn't look like she did, but he decided not to say anything. He wouldn't want to embarrass her. So he leaned back against the bench, melting into her silky, gentle voice, and enjoying the smooth, upbeat tune that she hummed.

It wasn't anything less than lovely.

The humming faded way just as quickly as it had come, and again he doubted that she had taken any notice of this. The silence between them was slightly unnerving now. Soon, though, Hinata rescued him from the troubling quiet.

"N-Not to be-e… rude or any-y-thing, but I couldn't help but wond-wonder. What are you doing here-re instead of-of being at that pa-arty."

Gaara was quick to give her his attention when she began to speak. After her words soaked in, he looked down toward where his own birthday party was, and didn't have to wonder why he hadn't gone. He was quiet for a moment, only now remembering and hearing the faint blare of music traveling down the street.

"Well…" he started. "I'm not sure how much it's really for me, you know?"

Hinata turned to look at him, to find that he did not meet her gaze, but instead stared straight ahead of him. She studied his profile, then looked down.

"What do you… mean?" she questioned slowly.

"What I mean is… How much can a party be for me, if I'm not there, right? And, still, everyone else is. "

"I'm not."

Her answer came quickly, simple but powerful. It was like a splash of cold water. Gaara sat up a little straighter and looked over at her, and she looked back. He looked away again after a moment, and leaned on his knees.

"No, you're not."

---

Shikamaru and Shino stood in a corner of the Brandavo club, surveying their environment.

"Are you sure we'll find Gaara here?" Shino questioned, unsure of his friend's calculating.

"Well, not entirely. But it is his birthday party! So he's bound to have shown up, right?"

"… Maybe, maybe not. If you were him, would you willingly go somewhere where you knew that girls would be literally all over you?"

"Of course not. But I'm Shikamaru. Gaara's Gaara. Only one of us has an IQ over 200."

"What I'm saying is, Mr. Genius, that there's a good chance he's not here, even if he isn't as smart as you are. It's common sense to stay away from danger."

"Oh, would you give it a rest, bug boy?" At this, Shino cringed slightly, but he decided he'd let it go. "We're at a party. Just enjoy yourself."

He sighed.

---

After a few long moments of sitting in the quiet, Gaara began to grow restless. He played with his thumbnails, chewed the bone on his wrist, and dragged his toe through the grass. All of a sudden, he couldn't take sitting there.

"Hey, Hinata, wanna go for a walk?"

She looked up at him, her mouth parted slightly. She seemed a little surprised, but nodded despite this, pressing her lips closed. He offered her his hand, which she took after a small hesitation. Her face flushed. There was something so beautiful about her fingers wrapped with his.

Hinata pulled herself up with the help of Gaara's hand, and steadied herself. Neither of them failed to notice the tiniest hesitation to let go, but both decided to ignore it. And the sand nin silently thanked the darkness for hiding the tiny amount of pink in his face.

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Woah. That was like, completely serious through-and-through. xD Hope that didn't disappoint anyone, and I hope having a little break from the horribly-written madness isn't too horrifying!

Well. I have no excuse for taking a long time. All I can say is that I'm sorry beyond fathom. D: please forgive me! heartheart.

ILUUU ALLLL.


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